I went to an Ostara ritual at Enchantments in New York City yesterday. For those who donít know, Ostara occurs at the Spring Equinox the day on which the amount of light and darkness are in balance. The weather was perfect for a spring ritual; cool but not cold and with not a cloud in the sky.

When I got to the shop the place was packed, my guess is there were about 30 people attending the ritual. It was to be held at 3pm (In Pagan Standard time thatís about 3:30).

The woman leading the ritual, Kat, asked everyone to go into the back yard. As we went outside we were given a flower and smudged with sage. In the backyard a circle had been drawn on the ground and ground strew petals. There was a good size cauldron with flowers in it. The cats were wandering in and out of attendance. We were asked to move to the periphery of the circle and wait for people to fill it in. Kat went to the Eastern part the circle to lead the ritual. She said some words of greeting and started the ritual.

The watch towers were invoked by previously assigned members of the group as well as the Lord and Lady. This was followed by Kat invoking the Persephone, the Goddess of Spring.

At this point, Kat anointed the third eye of the person to her right with oil of Persephone and passed the oil to him, so that he might anoint the person to his right. The anointment was put on in the form of a heart. This was continued until all in the circle had been anointed.

Kat instructed each person to point their flower toward the cauldron, charged the flower with energy and wishes for the coming summer then straightway tossed it into the cauldron. Kat added a previously prepared mixture to the cauldron and said some words to conclude the ritual and spell. With the ritual concluded, there were cookies on the altar that we were invited to share._________________.

The place is still growing, it still is here
It will grow until all of its children are there
Tannim Nimet Dreamwalker